Four decades later, that fallout is spilling over from the war’s veterans to succeeding generations: Serious, sometimes life-threatening diseases are cropping up in families of veterans who were exposed to the notorious exfoliant Agent Orange.
The herbicide was sprayed over
the jungles of South Vietnam from 1962 until 1971, when a study linked a
key compound in Agent Orange to
birth defects in lab animals.
Health problems cropped up
eventually for many exposed veterans. Richard Noddings, an Army veteran
from rural Wilber, Nebraska, survived 18 months in Vietnam. Now, at 64,
he uses a walker and suffers from fibromyalgia and heart disease.
“Eventually, realistically, Vietnam will kill me,” Noddings told
World-Herald military writer Steve Liewer. “It’s just taking its damn
sweet time doing it.”
The federal government took years
to acknowledge and confirm links between Agent Orange and certain
health problems in Vietnam veterans.
Now, as detailed in Liewer’s
recent reporting, the Vietnam Veterans of America and other advocacy
groups believe that a variety of birth defects, diseases and medical
conditions being seen in male Vietnam veterans’ children and
grandchildren are also tied to Agent Orange.
Family after family told Liewer
heartbreaking stories about diabetes. Cleft palate. Multiple myeloma and
other cancers. Nerve damage. Defective connective tissues. Fused,
misshapen fingers and toes.
Army veteran Terry White
remembers the birth of his daughter. “When (Christina) was born, the
doctor examined her fingers, her toes, her mouth, everything,” he said.
“She pointed it out to me, all the things that were wrong. I just sat
down and cried.”
The problem: Research is scant to
determine whether Agent Orange and other toxic substances used in the
war are truly responsible for the health problems suffered by the
children and grandchildren of male veterans.
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